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Police arrest suspected serial killer in Stockton, Calif.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Earlier this month, police in Northern California warned about a potential serial killer after a string of shootings and asked the public for help. Yesterday, Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden announced that a 43-year-old man was taken into custody thanks to a slew of tips and police work.

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STANLEY MCFADDEN: We watched his patterns and determined he was on a mission to kill. He was out hunting. We are sure we stopped another killing.

RASCOE: Five men were ambushed and killed in Stockton between July and September, each at night or in the early morning hours while walking or sitting in a parked car. Two earlier shootings are linked to those cases, including a woman who was sleeping in a tent when she was attacked. She survived. Investigators were able to zero in on the suspect after receiving hundreds of tips from the public. Chief McFadden said a surveillance team followed the man's car. They noticed that he was heading to parks and dark places, stopping and looking around before driving on. He was wearing dark clothing, had a mask around his neck and had a firearm when he was arrested. And authorities are now trying to determine a motive for the attacks.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.